Crown of Ash (Blood & Betrayal #1)

Chapter Eight

Malachi

As soon as I made sure Dane’s room was secure, I headed out of my chambers. Heat crawled under my skin, igniting every nerve with barely restrained rage. It would be so easy to blame Dane for not taking every safety precaution to keep himself safe, but this was on me.

I should’ve checked, should’ve stayed vigilant knowing a human was in Winterhaven. Being completely honest with myself, seeing Emmett so close to Dane had terrified me.

For the first time in my life, I’d felt raw fear. I still couldn’t understand the hold the male had over me, and wasn’t sure I wanted to. Not if emotions I’d never experienced before had nearly brought me to my knees. A strange hollowness settled in my stomach at the mere thought of Dane being harmed.

As soon as I rounded the corner, a snarl ripped from my throat. Giovanni was leaning against the wall outside of Emmett’s room. His gaze hardened when it landed on me, then he straightened.

“Do you really have a right to punish him, Malachi?”

He looked as though he was bracing himself for a fight.

No one in Winterhaven could best me. Not even my brother. My fighting skills were legendary, but it wasn’t Giovanni who deserved my wrath.

But he would if he didn’t get out of my way. “Move.”

He narrowed his eyes, but didn’t step aside. “His scent is like dangling raw meat in these halls, and one of the lions came out to feed.”

“He’s sequestered in my adjoining room!”

I growled. “To invade either is begging for death.”

“Look at you.”

Giovanni curled his lip, his gaze sweeping over me. “Since when is the mighty Malachi prone to tantrums?”

In a heartbeat, I had him against the wall, my forearm trapping his throat. My wings expanded, my fangs lengthening. “Be very careful of how you speak to me, brother .”

A pulse throbbed at my temple, and I was seconds away from… What in the hell was Dane doing to me? I’d never lost control, and Giovanni’s smug smile was only confirming how unraveled I’d become.

I eased off of him then took a step back. That’s when I noticed other vampires had gathered, watching their normally stoic prince going mad.

My gaze slid from one person to the next. This was nothing more than a show for them.

In that moment, I hated every last one of them. I shouldn’t have had to rely on Kyson to get me home. Not a single vampire my gaze fell on could be trusted. Not even Giovanni. Why had I surrounded myself with such treacherous creatures who would sooner rip out my throat than stand at my back?

Worse, Giovanni was challenging my authority in front of them. If I allowed him to get away with it, others might be tempted to try as well. And I would slaughter anyone who tried.

“Step. Aside.”

I drew my sword, ready to use the sharp blade if necessary. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

He slowly shook his head. “Pull your shit together, Malachi.”

The tip of my blade touched his throat. I didn’t want to slay my brother. It wasn’t either of our faults what our parents’ had turned us into. I longed to have him as my ally rather than my enemy, but he’d proven too many times he couldn’t be trusted.

Giovanni’s blue eyes burned with fury, but he finally moved aside. As I glanced around, my gaze landed on each one of them, daring them to come at my back.

No one did.

I opened the door and stepped inside Emmett’s room, only to find it empty. Turning, I glared at Giovanni. “You helped him escape?”

My brother glanced inside the room, his brows lifting slightly. He shrugged. “I guess Emmett wasn’t sticking around to be punished.”

Never before had I wanted to backhand him as much as I wanted to right now.

Then a thought occurred to me.

Dane.

“Find him!”

I ordered them. “Hunt him down and bring him to me.”

They might harbor resentment toward me, but none were foolish enough to disobey an order. The vampires hurried away, but Giovanni remained. “Just admit it, Malachi. The human means something to you. Why is that so hard for you to acknowledge?”

His tone wasn’t scathing. It had grown quiet, revealing a rare moment of compassion.

“He is a weakness I can’t afford,”

I admitted, so tired of not being able to trust one damn person in my life. It was exhausting always watching my back. I still had no idea why I allowed any of them to remain in Winterhaven.

Because their presence is still better than the endless void of solitude.

I should’ve bought a dog.

“Then let him go,”

Giovanni reasoned. “Have Kyson return him to his car and be done with it.”

The very thought caused a deep ache in my chest, making me realize Dane had somehow gotten under my skin.

He stayed with you until Kyson arrived. He chose to keep you safe even though he didn’t have to.

I rebelled against the thought since I couldn’t even remember what happened in the car. I owed him nothing.

You are such a goddamn liar.

“Maybe if you stopped fighting the truth and publicly claimed him as yours, others wouldn’t be tempted by your human.”

Giovanni strode away, leaving me standing there confused.

Heading back to my chambers, I once again found myself staring at the secret entrance to Dane’s room. Giovanni was right. I needed to let the human go.

A sharp curse from the other side of the wall had me sprinting through the entrance, wondering if someone else had invaded his room. The glare of the early morning sun made me bolt backward, hissing at the pain where the rays had touched my skin.

“Holy shit!”

Dane squeaked. “Are you okay?”

He raced after me, crossing into my room, his gaze darting over my body.

My brows furrowed when he grabbed my arm, turning it over. Then he dropped it and examined the other one. The top of my hand was burned, and it felt like my face was on fire. But I couldn’t move as Dane touched me with such gentleness. He seemed genuinely concerned for me.

“Do you need those maidens?”

His fingers hovered over the scorching heat on my hand. “You heal by drinking blood, right?”

The injuries weren’t severe enough for my thirst to take over, but my gaze still dropped to the pulse in his neck. “I’ll just have Kyson bring some blood to my room.”

Dane glanced up then inhaled sharply. “Your face, Malachi! It’s burned.”

“It’ll be worse if you don’t block out the sun.”

Light spilled in from his room, causing me to take another step back.

Quickly, he closed the wall, but used enough force that it failed to catch and bounced open even wider.

I recoiled, nearly losing my footing.

“Shit!”

He eased it closed this time, taking a deep breath. “There, no bright ball to turn you to ash.”

His protectiveness stunned me. My treatment of him was less than stellar since discovering Kyson had brought him here. Yet… Dane had panicked, checked me for injuries, then quickly blocked out the sun.

“Why are you being so nice?”

I threw his earlier question back at him. “I’ve been a—”

“Jerk to me?”

He huffed. “Yeah, I noticed.”

He glanced away. “Everything has been overwhelming since meeting you. It would have been kind of nice to receive a little understanding from you.”

He held his thumb and index finger an inch apart. “Just a tiny bit.”

Leaning in, I pressed my lips to the silky shell of his ear. “Baby, there is nothing tiny about me.”

His breath caught, and his heart began to race. I grazed his neck with the tips of my fangs, so damn tempted to sink them into his soft flesh. “Leave, before I can no longer hold back,”

I whispered.

“Television,”

Dane’s breathing became shallow.

My brows furrowed, momentarily distracted by that single word. “What?”

“If I’m going to be your prisoner, I have a few demands.”

Dane stepped back, his skin flushed. “I need a television before I go completely insane.”

I didn’t like being reminded that he was here against his will. “What makes you think I’ll give in to your demands, human? ”

I asked with a low growl.

His eyes flared. “You don’t have to remind me every five seconds that I’m prey, asshole!”

His outburst triggered my temper. “Maybe if I do, you’ll remember to lock your fucking door. If I hadn’t sensed Emmett’s presence, he would’ve attacked you!”

The snarl ripped from me at the thought. I wanted to find Emmett and shatter his goddamn fangs.

Was Giovanni right? Had Dane come to mean something to me? It was too dangerous to be that vulnerable. I had managed to live thousands of years without losing my heart to anyone, and I wasn’t going to lose it now.

“And I thought my room was impenetrable!”

My face was inches from his, and I was livid at the fact he was making me lose control. “No one can use the shimmer to get inside your room, but that still leaves an unlocked door.”

I took his safety seriously, and he’d almost been harmed.

Just let him go back to his car.

I…couldn’t. I finally admitted to myself that he’d captivated me from the moment I saw him sitting alone at that restaurant table. It was as if something had loosened inside of me. That alone should have made me back away, but I hadn’t.

My soul be damned, I hadn’t.

“So, are you going to get me a TV or not?”

Dane’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

How sick was I that the arguing aroused me? I liked how feisty he was, how the male never backed down no matter how frightened he became. Now I wanted to know if he was a wildfire in bed.

He gestured toward my face. “Call for those maidens. Your skin is starting to blister.”

His hot-and-cold attitude was giving me whiplash. “Am I frightening, little doe?”

“No.”

He gritted his teeth. “I’m concerned for you, and don’t call me a deer.”

It seemed I’d hit a nerve. “Why not?”

I sent a text to Kyson to bring me a bag of blood. I hated drinking from an IV bag. Fresh from a vein was so much better, but my only fresh choice at the moment was Dane.

There was pain and fury in his sapphire eyes. “If I’m seen as a Bambi, they’ll treat me like one.”

That was…very perceptive of him. A tiny prick of pride swelled inside of me. “Perception is everything,”

I admitted, feeling an overwhelming urge to move even closer to him. My gaze dropped to his lips, imagining what they would feel like against my own.

Dane reached up and ghosted his fingers over my jaw, nearly causing me to turn into the tender touch. “How long does Kyson normally take?”

The question snapped me out of the trance he had put me under. Pulling my phone out, I saw ten minutes had passed, which was highly unusual of him. “He should’ve already replied to my text.”

Worry filled his eyes. “He said he was safe here.”

No one was safe here. Not even me. “Stay in your room, door locked, while I find out where he is.”

Emmett had fled, but who was to say he hadn’t circled back around for revenge? Over the years, he had voiced his displeasure many times about Kyson, but had never tried to harm the male.

But that was before I tried to kill Emmett. Even though it was hard for me to show it, everyone knew I cared about Kyson. He wouldn’t have remained in Winterhaven if I hadn’t.

“Why can’t I come with you?”

Dane asked. “No one would mess with me if I was with you.”

Unless I officially claimed Dane as mine, they wouldn’t stop trying to feed from him. That would also mean announcing it in front of Dane too.

“It’s complicated.”

I ushered him toward the hidden entrance then froze, remembering the sun. There weren’t any windows in the hallways, only the chambers and the kitchen. My drapes were tightly drawn, but his weren’t.

“Don’t pull the complicated card on me.”

He swatted at my good hand. “I’m tired of being cooped up.”

He smiled smugly at me. Irritating brat. “If I don’t open that door, you’re stuck with me.”

“Or I could tie you to my bed.”

It was meant as a threat, but the thought only made my cock stir.

“And leave me helpless?”

His voice was strained, as if he’d had the same thought.

“Why are you purposely putting yourself in danger?”

I snapped. “If something is afoul, you’re wasting precious time.”

“Afoul?”

He frowned. “Who even says that? And besides, Kyson has grown on me. We humans have to stick together.”

My brows lifted a fraction of an inch when I nearly purred, “You are a pain in the ass.”

“So, does that mean I can tag along?”

His blue eyes brightened.

I gnashed my teeth. “And if we’re suddenly surrounded by vampires? Then what, Dane? Are you going to fight them with your terror?”

Something moved behind his eyes. “Osiris had me for weeks, Malachi,”

he said, his voice almost a whisper. “Living in fear is nothing new to me.”

My fingers brushed his cheek, gutted that fear had become normalized for him. That was no way to live.

“I have no idea why I’m agreeing to this.”

My fingers lingered as I reveled in the softness of his skin, imagining how it would feel pressed against my body. “I’ll have to slaughter anyone who comes near you.”

“We better stay off the radar then.”

Dane hurried toward the door, leaving my hand hanging midair. With a deep sigh, I let it drop, and then guided him into the hallway. My head stayed on a swivel the entire time I tracked Kyson’s scent. A few times I’d felt a presence, but no one had shown themselves.

I softly curse when I tracked Kyson’s scent to the kitchen. The room had three large windows, no curtains. The door was closed, but the sun’s rays were just beyond it.

“Why’d we stop?”

Dane whispered.

My burns were growing worse. They’d gone from irritating to painful, which meant my thirst would only intensify. The blood supply was beyond the door, but I couldn’t go in there.

“The windows in there don’t have sun-blocking curtains,”

I replied. “Unless I want to burst into flames, I can’t go in there.”

He pursed his lips. “Then I guess it’s up to me.”

I snatched the male back when he started toward the door. “What, pray tell, are you doing?” I hissed.

“I, pray tell, am going into the kitchen. You said there weren’t any curtains covering the windows, so I highly doubt a vampire is in there.”

I still didn’t like sending him in there, especially when I had no clue what was past the door. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to. It’s not as if I’m jumping for joy to do this. But if Kyson is in some kind of trouble, then I need to get in there, capisce ?”

“Did you just capisce me?”

I fought the smile trying to emerge. He was not only courageous but funny and charming.

“We’re wasting time. What if Kyson is in there bleeding out?”

“I don’t smell any blood.”

“What if he’s unconscious?” he asked.

“He’ll eventually wake up.”

Dane gaped at me.

“What?”

I asked. “He’ll eventually wake up.”

“Guy is your pet for five years and that’s how you think of him?”

He shook his head, giving me a look that said I was unbelievable. “Glad you’re not my friend,”

he muttered.

Why did that make my chest ache? “Kyson is not my pet.”

“Fine, but what if he’s dead?” he asked.

A deep snarl ripped from me. “Then everyone under this roof dies.”

“So, you do care, but you just won’t admit it.”

He studied me, and I wondered if I came up short in his eyes. “I’m going in. Be my lookout. If any of your vampire buddies show up, whistle.”

“I am not whistling.”

Because I didn’t know how.

“Can you at least knock twice on the door?”

He appeared exasperated that we were even having this conversation.

“Or I could simply tell you.”

Dane’s jaw went slack. “How did you do that?”

Then his eyes narrowed. “Have you poked around inside my head?”

“I can only communicate, not probe.”

Why was I explaining this to him?

Telepathy was extremely rare among vampires. As far as I knew, not even Giovanni possessed the ability. He had no idea that I did because I kept it a closely guarded secret. Never reveal your abilities and your enemy will always be caught off guard.

Giovanni and I were born of the same parents, yet I was the only one in our family with wings and powers. My father had accused my mother of infidelity. My mother had tried to tear out his throat for even suggesting such a thing.

But that didn’t mean she was telling the truth. Wings were an extremely rare thing among vampires. Powerful abilities even rarer. No one I had ever met possessed any, or wings for that matter. Which was why I was acknowledged as the prince of vampires.

A title I neither wanted nor desired. In my youth I had been beaten, broken, and molded into what was expected of me. Never once had I been given a choice.

“Can I talk back, or is it a one-way radio sort of thing?”

Dane glanced at the door, biting his lip. He truly cared about Kyson’s fate, even though the two had just met.

Which made me wonder if Dane would ever care as much about me.

You don’t give a damn what he thinks or feels.

I just kept lying to myself.

“Try it.”

Dane scrunched his face, his cheeks turning a rosy red.

“If you don’t stop, you’re going to pop a blood vessel,”

I mused. “ Let it flow naturally.”

“Hello? Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?”

“Pink Floyd?”

My brows knitted.

“I’m shocked you know it.”

He grinned, looking at me as if he was impressed.

“You are a very peculiar man,”

I commented.

“Enough stalling.”

Dane took a deep breath before disappearing behind the door.

“What do you see?”

“Oh my god!”

“What? What is it, Dane?”

Now that he was in Winterhaven, I needed to do something about the kitchen windows. It had never bothered me since I had no need to go in there, but now I despised being cut off from a part of my home. If something happened to the male, I wouldn’t be able to get to him.

The thought unsettled me.

“There’s a huge bowl of fruit on the counter! Oh, I’m definitely smashing that.”

I snarled. “ Do you see Kyson?”

No answer. “ Dane?”

If he was too busy eating to answer me, I was going to put him over my fucking knee.

“Dane!”